Hung Tan Phan v. an Dinh Le, Tan Minh Cao, and Huy Dinh Truong

426 S.W.3d 786, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 7693, 2012 WL 3807906
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 30, 2012
Docket01-10-00218-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 426 S.W.3d 786 (Hung Tan Phan v. an Dinh Le, Tan Minh Cao, and Huy Dinh Truong) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hung Tan Phan v. an Dinh Le, Tan Minh Cao, and Huy Dinh Truong, 426 S.W.3d 786, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 7693, 2012 WL 3807906 (Tex. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

LAURA CARTER HIGLEY, Justice.

Appellant, Hung Tan Phan, appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment for lack of standing on his claims against appellees, An Dinh Le, Tan Minh Cao, and Huy Dinh Troung and its award of damages against Phan on Cao’s and Truong’s counterclaims. In two issues, Phan argues (1) Phan had standing to bring his claims against the defendants and (2) the evidence is legally insufficient to support the trial court’s determination of liability. 1

We reverse and render.

Background

Phan was the president of an association known as LDNNA from 2004 to 2007. The association is composed of Vietnamese “frogmen” — that is, certain members of the Vietnamese military that served the south Vietnamese government during the Vietnamese war. The purpose of the association, at least in part, is to raise money for disabled frogmen still in Vietnam and for families of deceased frogmen still in Vietnam.

In 2004, Phan assigned Le the authority to organize a fundraising event in Houston, Texas. The LDNNA gave Le money to put together the event. That money, along with all profits obtained from the fundraiser, was to be returned to the LDNNA after the fundraiser.

In October 2008, Phan filed suit, pro se, against Le and the other defendants, who had also been involved in the Houston fundraiser. Phan asserted claims of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Phan alleged that the defendants operated the fundraiser in a manner that caused a net loss. He pleaded that he brought his suit as “an individual, a private party,” but sought recovery for “[t]he monetary damages of the LDNNA.”

Defendants answered and asserted counterclaims for breach of fiduciary duty, embezzlement, “illegal representation of the association,” and “frivolous lawsuit and harassment.” The next month, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that Phan lacked standing to bring his claims.

The defendants asserted in their motion for summary judgment that Phan was bringing his claims on behalf of the LDNNA, that Phan was no longer president or on the board of directors, and that Phan admitted in discovery that he did not have standing to sue on behalf of the LDNNA. In support of this ground, the defendants attached Phan’s response to their requests for admissions. In the response to their requests for admissions, Phan admitted that he was no longer president or a board member for the LDNNA, that he did not have the authority to represent the LDNNA, and that he did not have standing to file suit on behalf of the LDNNA.

The defendants also asserted that summary judgment was proper on the basis that Phan lacked personal knowledge of *790 the events concerning the Houston fundraiser. The only evidence they presented in support of this claim was an affidavit by Truong asserting that “Phan was not in the Organizing Committee [for the Houston fundraiser], he did not have any personal knowledge.”

Finally, the defendants asserted that summary judgment was proper on the basis that there was no material fact issue “about the harms done to [Phan] individually.” The defendants did not present any evidence on this matter. Instead, they relied on the portion of Phan’s petition where he prayed for “$34,000 to pay back to the LDNNA.”

In his response to the motion for summary judgment, Phan argued he was not bringing his claims against defendants on behalf of the LDNNA. Instead, Phan argued, that he was liable to the LDNNA for the losses incurred. Accordingly, he claimed that he was suing in his individual capacity to recover the losses for which he was liable. To support his argument, he included a letter from the then-current president of the LDNNA. The letter was written in Vietnamese, and Phan included a copy of his own translation of the letter. In the translated copy, the letter asserts, “You were the Association President at the time of the fundraising party. Pursuant to the Association BYLAWS, ... the Association President is still liable for the Association treasury.” It also stated that “the Association is asking you to do anything in your power (even taking legal action) to try to recover the lost fundraising money.”

The trial court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Phan later filed a motion for new trial on the issue of whether he lacked standing. Phan attached to the motion for summary judgment, among other things, portions of the LDNNA’s bylaws that he asserts supports his claim that he is liable for the losses he alleged to have been incurred by the defendants. The motion for new trial was denied as well.

Le subsequently nonsuited his counterclaims against Phan. Cao and Truong did not. At trial, Cao and Truong called Phan and Truong to testify in addition to the defendants’ attorney on fees. Phan called only himself. At the conclusion of the trial, the trial court awarded the defendants $8,000 in actual damages, $10,000 in punitive damages, and $2,000 in attorneys’ fees. 2

On appeal, Phan filed a brief arguing (1) Phan had standing to bring his claims against the defendants and (2) the evidence is legally insufficient to support the trial court’s determination of liability. Le filed a brief arguing that summary judgment on Phan’s standing was proper. Cao and Truong did not file a brief.

Subject-Matter Jurisdiction

In his second issue, Phan argues that the trial court erred by determining that he lacked standing to assert his claims.

A. Standard of Review

A defendant can challenge the plaintiffs standing in a motion for summary judgment. Bland Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 554 (Tex.2000). The summary-judgment movant must conclusively establish its right to judgment as a matter of law. See MMP, Ltd. v. Jones, *791 710 S.W.2d 59, 60 (Tex.1986). Because summary judgment is a question of law, we review a trial court’s summary judgment decision de novo. Mann Frankfort Stein & Lipp Advisors, Inc. v. Fielding, 289 S.W.3d 844, 848 (Tex.2009).

To prevail on a “traditional” summary-judgment motion asserted under Rule 166a(c), a movant must prove that there is no genuine issue regarding any material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c); Little v. Tex. Dep’t of Criminal Justice, 148 S.W.3d 374, 381 (Tex.2004). A matter is conclusively established if reasonable people could not differ as to the conclusion to be drawn from the evidence. See City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802, 816 (Tex.2005).

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426 S.W.3d 786, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 7693, 2012 WL 3807906, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hung-tan-phan-v-an-dinh-le-tan-minh-cao-and-huy-dinh-truong-texapp-2012.